The myths of background checks

Legislators are either stupid or lying or both about the universal background checks for gun purchases ("Tyranny of the minority," April 19). They want checks on Internet sales; but they are already done on Internet sales. If you buy a firearm over the Internet, it must be shipped to a Federal Firearms License holder. The licensee does the background check on the purchaser.

The only exceptions are if the firearm is an antique, manufactured earlier than 1899, or if it is a black powder firearm. In Maryland, probably 90 percent of sales at gun shows go through a background check. The only guns you can legally purchase without a background check are unregulated rifles and shotguns from a private seller. Most of the sellers at the gun shows I've attended are licensed dealers. Unregulated firearms are not handguns or the so-called "assault weapons."

So, why do we need universal background checks when legal purchasers already go through a background check? If you think it's to catch the criminals you're dreaming. By their nature, criminals are going to break the law and background checks won't catch them.